Price Policy and Fish Marketing System

8/11/2019 Price Policy and Fish Marketing System

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/price-policy-and-fish-marketing-system 1/17

Price Policy and ish Marketing System in ndia

R. SATHIADHASAND R. NARAYANAKUMAR

Central Marine Fisheries Research ltwitute. Cochin 6R2 014.

F

isheries fonn an important sector of the Indian

economy. Both as a nutritive food item for

internal consumption and as a commodity that can

earn foreign exchange, its importance is well

known. Fisheries contribute about three per cent of

our GDP 1993). Surrounded by sea on the three

sides of mainland, India has a vast potential of

marine resources. The Exclusive Economic Zone

EEZ) of India which extends upto 200 nautical

miles, covers an area of 2.02 million sq.km. against

its land area of 3.29 million sq.km. In the marine

sector, tish are procured from 2244 landing centres

located all along the 8085 km of coast line. The

supply from inland sector is also scattered which is

obtained from 27,000 km of rivers, 1,13,000 km of

canals, 1.75 million hectare of tanks, ponds and

derelict water spread area. The total fish production

during 1992-93 was estimated at 4.04 million

tonnes, 2.24 million tonnes from marine sector

against the estimated potential yield of 3.9 million

tonnes and 1.8 million tonnes from he inland sector

against the estimated potential of 4.0 million

tonnes. The growth of fish production and

development of fishery sector is highly dependent

on an efficient fish marketing system. Further, the

survival and sustenence of different harvesting

techniques of capture fisheries soley depends on

their profitability which is interlinked with the

market demand and price of different varieties of

fish.

Harvesting and marketing of fish provides

enonnous employment opportunities. The post har-

vest operations of fish, provides more employment

to labour than the production sector. Large number

Biology Education/October December /994

of intermediaries are involved before fish reaches

the hands of ultimate consumer. An efficient Price

Policy of fish or any other commodity aims at to

ensure the services of middlemen at minimum cost.

In other words, the pricing efficiency is concerned

with improving the operation of buying, selling and

other connected aspects of marketing process so

that it will remain responsive to consumer be-

haviour. Further, modem fish marketing policy

should envisage not only meeting the existing

demand for fish but also tapping the potential

demand.

Production Trend and Supply Prospects

The fish output comes from marine and inland

resources. The total fish production during 1992-93

is 4.04 million ~onnes. The fish production has

registered an annual growth rate of 5.2 per cent in

the inland sector and 3.8 per cent in the marine

sector over the year from 1950-51 to 1992-93.

Both inland and marine fish marketing are

more or less identical on many aspects. However,

marine fish marketing is more complicated due to

its high degree of uncertainity and other special

features. Hence, more emphasis is given for marine

fish marketing in the present analys s. The present

level of exploitation of marine fisheries is about

66.7 per cent of the total estimated potential of 3.9

million tonl)es. The details of the length of the

coastal line, continental shelf area, number .of land-

ing centres and number of fishing viIIages in

various maritime states of India are given in Table

1.

225



Table 1 : Details of statewise, coastline, continental shelf area, landing centres and fishing villages.

Total 8085

Source: I. Mar. Fish. (nfor. ServoT & E Ser.,No. 30

2. Hand oo on fisheries, P. 32,

Marine fishery resources available in the near

shore areas extending upto 50m depth are almost

fully exploited in India. The estimated landings of

demersal and pelagic groups of marine fish is

presented in the Table 2. The unexploited and

under-exploited resource beyond 50m depth is es-

timated to be 1.7 million tonnes. Among the ex-

ploited pelagic resources, there is enormous scope

to increase the catch and supply of white baits,

carangids, ribbon fishers and tunas. The total

potential yield of white baits from the EEZ is es-

timated to be 0.24 million tonnes as against the

current yield of 0,07 million tonnes. Carangids

have an estimated potential stock of 0.27 million

tonnes against the current yield of 0.1 million ton-

nes. Ribbon fishes have an estimated potential of

0.27 million tonnes and oceanic tuna 0.5 million

tonnes offering considerable scope for additional

catch with the improvement of fish marketing sys-

226

Continental shelf Number of landing

area ('000 Sq. Km.) centres

No. of fishing

villages

409

91

204

771

222

386

329

442

652

45

10

45

3606

tern and development of consumer awareness and

preference.

The non conventional resources like Bull's

eye Priacanthus spp.),

Indian drift fish

Psenes

indicus)

and The black ruff'

CentroLophus niger)

abundantly available in our deep sea are almost

unexploited. The Bull's eye is having good

demand in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and

Hongkong and' is caught in sizeable quantities by

foreign vessels from our waters. The domestic

market for this variety is yet to be established. The

nutritive quality of the black ruff equals any other

familiar table fish with protein (14.9 ) and fat

(5.8 ) contents, there is ample scope for its accep-

tance in local markets. At times some varieties are

not caught for fear of low prices due to glut and

those caught are thrown over board. Product

development and sales promotion activities for non

conventional' fish varieties have to be geared up to

Biology Education/October-December, 1994

StateslUnion Territories

Apprx. length of

coastal line (Km)

I.

Andhra Pradesh

947

2. Goa

87

3. Karnataka

300

4.

Gujarat

1600

5. Kerala

590

6. Maharashtra

720

7. Orissa

480

8. Tamil Nadu

1000

9.

West Bengal

157

10. Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2000

II.

Lakshadweep

132

12.

Pondicherry

45

3]

379

10

87

25

29

164

773

40

226

]12

184

32

62

41

362

]7

47

35 57

4 II

28

512 2244



m k

the cost intensive deep water fishing into a

viable economic activity.

differently from agriculture or mining industry, in

relation to their catch and utilisation. Agriculture

Table 2 : Estimated production of pelagk and demersal groups of fishes

Name of fishes

I. Pelagic group:

I. Clupeids

2. Bombay duck

3. Half breaks full breaks

4. Flying fishes

5. Ribbon fishes

6. Carangids

7. Mackerels

8. Seer fish

9. Thnnies

10. Bill fishes

11. Baracudas

12. Mullets

13. Unicorn cod

14. Miscellaneous

Total

IL Demersal group:

1. Elasmobranchs

2. Lizard fishes

3. Perches

4. Goat fishes

5. Thread fins

6. Croakers

7. Silverbellies

8. Big j awed jumper

9. Pomfrets

10. Flat fishes

II. Crustaceans

12. Molluscs

13. Miscellaneous

Total

Grand total

Source: CMFRI, Annual Report 1992-93

Special Features of Fish Production and

Marketing

Fisheries resources have some special features

which have implications for its production and

marketing. The marine fishery has to be considered

533376

130234

2503

941

74301

141787

184402

29841

52060

1048

11125

9903

253

42225

1213999

93772

24840

120778

21665

6882

119224

53876

8632

39862

29887

336623

56237

36003

94827]

2] .62,270

Biology Education/October December 1994

..---

n tonnes)

]992

990

]991

537]76

136450

2543

5619

95428

168626

113675

37408

36248

791

13373

6602

]492

41806

1197237

469915

]27164

2389

4917

111021

]89737

133885

42894

42275

1387

12399

5114

]]88

42218

1186503

973]0

27573

103136

33298

7849

145584

52133

9794

42649

37270

384473

67565

36579

] 100342

22.97.579

105038

28939

114403

17242

7811

16]843

5]383

6575

33909

63344

379990

90678

39193

, 1045213

22,31.716

deals with many varieties of crops of different na-

ture to be handled in a known area where the

progress of the growing crops can be watched

regularity and continuously and adequate protec-

tion measures can be taken, on the standing crops if

required. In the case of mineral resources, the

227



production mining after the estimation will be a

question of tapping the known and fixed resources.

But fish is wet and highly perishable. It is a com-

mon property resource, and the methods of estima-

tion, capture and availability of different varieties

of fish is of different nature as. the resources are

mostly migrating, invisible although renewable.

The raw materials are the living resources like fish

which are caught in different waters but are to be

brought to a few selected centres, either on the

coast fishing harbours or on the seas factory

ships for handling and utilising them in different

ways.

In fish marketing, the general hypothesis is that

conditions of monopsony and oligopsony charac-

terize the fish marketing structure in India at the

various stages and hence fishermen do not get ad-

vantage of the high price prevelant in the consumer

markets. Basic economic theory indicates that in

the perfectly competetive market no actor of

production earns more than its opportunity cost and

pure profit cannot exist in the long run because it

is eliminated through competition. If a market is

dominated by a single buyer it is called monop-

sony, with two buyers it is duopsony; more than

two but not too many as oligopsony and monop-

sonistic competition. Under imperfect competition,

which include monopsony, oligopsony and monop-

sonistic competition, pure profit is expected to be

positive in the long-run equilibrium and it cannot

be explained wholly in terms of the opportunity

cost of the services provided by the middlemen.

Characteristics of Marine Fish Marketing

I. Greater Uncertainities in fish production and

hence in the supply of fish.

2. High perishability of fish.

3. Assembling of fish from too many coastal

landing centres.

4. Too many varieties and hence too many

demand patterns.

5. Wide spatial and temporal variations in market

arrivals and prices.

6. Dis-equilibrium of demand and supply.

228

7. Difficultyinmaintainingthe quality of fish.

8. Lack of proper infrastructural facilities for

storage,preservation,processingand transport

at various stagesof marketing.

9. Lack of informationon fish price and produc-

tion.

Price Determination for Fish

The price of fish fluctuates far higher than any

other agricultural commodity. The price changes

may be due to changes in supply besides due to the

prices of other fish varieties in the market. The

variation of fish prices at all stages of transactions

is attributed to the uncertain nature of fish produc-

tion and perishability.

Price is determined by the interaction of

demand and supply at both producing centres and

consumer markets. At landing centres, the market

demand is the aggregate demand from wholesalers

which is indicated by the number of trucks.

cycle vendors, retailers and individual purchasers

arrived at the centre. Plate I . The short run

demand is more or less stable. The demand will be

high either in the morning or evening hours,

depending on the timing of the consumer markets.

Hence some times, the retailers are prepared to pay

high price for fish in the morning without worrying

about the increased supply at the later part of the

day. The short run supply of fish is highly inelastic

and unpredictable.

The price determination of fish can be theoreti-

cally explained as follows. Let us consider the

variety to the mackerel. Figure I If the supply of

mackerel is OQI the possible price is PI which is

the actual market price as demand curve DD is

cutting at the point E in the supply curve SS. The

supply of market is equal to its atTival. So the

traders are willing to sell their entire holdings for

whatever price they can get. Hence the supply

curve of the perishable good is a vertical line and it

indicates the total supply in the market. Price

mechanism here performs an important function of

allocating variable supply of mackerel. If the price

is lower than pI Say PO the quantity demanded

would be larger than supply. The shortage is

Biology Education/October December

99



denoted

by AB in the figure and hence there would

be an increase in price. Similarly if the supply is

reduced to S1S1 then the price would be higher

(P2)

price becomes P2and then there would be a surplus

of ML quantity which would be glutted in the

market. If P2 is fixed as support price the excess

supply of fish can be purchased at the support

y

D

Po

D

Q)

(.)

.~ P

(l,

o

S

-

Q2

Quantity

o is

x

Figure : Price detennination of fish

If the supply in a particular day is OQ. SS

curve) and the demand is OQ2 then the market

level, so that the higher price level .of P2 can be

maintained. Otherwise fishermen have to reduce

Biology Education/October December. 99

9



the supply from OQI to OQ2 either by reducing

production or diverting the product to the interior

markets or for curing and processing plants.

Distribution Pattern of Fish and Marketing

Structure in India

The supply of fish to the consumers are in the form

of fresh frozen, dried or canned in the local as well

as in the international markets. Regarding the dis-

tribution pattern. during 1992- 93. in the domestic

market. the composition of fresh fish was 44 per

cent; dry fish 31 per cent, fish meal 13 p er cent and

the rest canned fish. The consumption of fresh fish

was originally confined around the landing centres.

Now with the improvement in transport and other

infrastructural facilities. the interior markets away

from the landing centres are also covered. Of late.

a considerable quantity of commercially less im-

portant fish varieties and fish wastes are diverted to

fish meal plants which are of immense use as

poultry feed.

Fish Marketing Channel

Marketing channel refers to the path through which

the product passes from the producer to the hands

of ultimate consumer. In case of marine fish

marketing. fish travels long distances from coastal

areas to the interior parts of the country. The now

chart indicating the path of movement of fish from

the producer to the consumer is given in Figure 2.

The usual marine fish marketing channels

prevailing can be obtained from the flow chart.

They are,

I. Fishermen-Auctioneer-Agents of freezing

plants-Exporters.

2. Fishermen-Auctioneer-Processor Dry fish) -

Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer.

3. Fishermen-Auctioneer-Wholesaler primary

market) -Wholesaler Retail market)-Retailers-

Consumers.

4. Fishermen-Auctioneer-Commission

Wholesaler-Retailer- Consumers.

5. Fishermen-Auctioneer--Retailer-Consumer.

6. Fishermen-Auctioneer-Consumer.

agents-

230

The m~jor portion of the internal fish market-

ing takes place through 3-6th channels. The auc-

tioneers of the primary market and commission

agents of the secondary market are also involved in

the process without taking possession of the fish.

The fish marketing in India can be divided into

two groups as, domestic fish marketing and export

marketing.

Domestic. Fish Marketing

In rndia, fish marketing has not developed fully on

modern lines. There is a gradual transformation

from traditional to modern method of marketing

with the advent of improved transport, processing

and storage facilities. at micro level. there are large

number of small merchants. There are four types o

functionaries at this level-commission agent and

the wholesaler at the landing centre, interior

wholesaler and a retai I eI at last. At macro level

few organisations have undertaken the whole dis-

trihution of tish.

At landing centres, fish are disposed by auc-

tioning. This provides maximum competition

among buyers and enable quick disposals. Fish a

the landing centres are not sold in weight because

of the practical difficulties involved in the handling

of such a highly perishable commodity. Hence the

sales are carried out by measures of heaps or lots of

different sizc. However for exportable varieties like

prawns, the price per kg of fish is fixed by action

and weighted before delivery. Generally the auc-

tioning is done by traditional auctioneer or mid-

dlemen on commission basis who take up the

responsibility of realising the sale proceeds from

the traders. The auctioneers at the landing centre

take 5-10. per cent of fish auctioned by them as

commission. Since many of the auctioneers ad-

vance loans to the fishermen. they take a portion of

share towards the interest for the loan given.

Marketing Expenses

Marketing expenses in fish marketing refers to the

charges incurred for the handling. and transporta-

tion of fish during its movement from the produc-

tion point to the consumption point.




L ANDING CENTRE

Primary Market

AQent..Of

l

freezinQ_

l

proceuors

plants curinQ

Whole

salers

Primary

market

Commission

aQent.

Retailers

Bulk

purchasers

FreezinQ

plants

Whole Whole Whole

salers salers salers

Dry fish Retail Interior

market market market

CONSUMER

Figure 2 : Flow chart showing the fish marketing channels

The fish passes through a number of hands

before reaching the ultimate consumer. Due to its

perishable nature proper preservation and handling

is vital. Bamboo baskets are mostly used to pack

the fish which is around Rs. 25/ and one basket

can be used only for about a month. For transporta

tion of fish trucks tempos motorized cycle rick

shaws and bicycles are used generally. During

1993 94 the freight charges for a truck load was

Rs. 5 6 per km. In Madras region the trarn;portof

fish from landing centres to wholesale and retail

markets is mostly through motorized.cycle rick

Biology Education/October December J994

231



shaws. Some times, retailers with less quantity of

fish group together and engage a common vehicle

for transport. For packing, ice is used at the rate of

20-25 kg to pack 20-30 kg of tish which can be

packed in a basket. The cost of ice during 1993-94

was Rs. 25-30 for a 50 kg block. The labour charge

for loading and unloading worked out of Rs. 5 per

basket.

It was found that, marketing costs including

handling and transportation of big size fishes like

seer fish, giant sea perch and barracudas was com-

paratively higher than that of small varieties likc

sardine, thread tin bream and lizard fish.

Marketing Margins and Efficiency

The gross marketing margin refers to the difference

between the price paid by the consumer and the

price received by the producer. This includes all

costs of assembling, grading, packing, transporta-

tion, processing and storage, wholesalers and

retailers margin.

The marketing margin is an indicator of the

marketing efficiency. In the absence of any value

added process, higher the value of the marketing

margin, lower the efficiency of the system. On one

hand, the producers deserve a legitimate share in

the consumer s rupee and on the other hand, the

consumer s rights have to be safeguarded against

excessive prices. These twin objectives can be

achieved by ensuring various marketing services at

reasonable costs. i.e ., restricting margins at a

reasonable level. In a nutshell, if the movement of

goods from producer to the consumer takes place at

minimum cost, the marketing system is said to be

efficient.

Price Beha,iour

The fluctuation in prices of fish is very high be-

cause of the uncertain nature of production, perish-

able nature and variation in short run supply.

Because the supply of fish is highly inelastic, a

bumper catch on any day will slash down the tish

prices and a small catch will boost the prices to

very high levels.

A study undertaken in Tamil Nadu has clearly

pointed out that, despite a wide short-term tluctua-

232

tion in the tish prices. the average annual prices

commercially important tishes show an increas

trend. The whole sale price behaviour of sell.?

varieties of fish in Tamil Nadu for the years 19

74, 1984-85. 1989-90 and 1993-94 are given

Table 3.

Table 3 : Wholesale price hehaviour of selected variet

of marine fish in Tamil Nadu 1973-74 to 1993-94)

Source: Socio economic evaluation and technology tran

fer division. SEETrD), CMFRI.

It is found from

the table, that the

pricesof

varieties havc recorded an increasing trend. T

price rise in case of seer fish was nearly 16 tim

between 1973-74 and

1993-94. The other variet

which recorded notable increase in these t

decades are. tunas from Rs. 2.00 to Rs. 30.0

barracudas from Rs. 2.00 to Rs. 30.00) and sha

f rom Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 26).

The avcrage retail

price

behaviour of

selec

varieties of marine fish during 1973-74, 1984-

1989-90 and ]993-94 arc given in Table 4. In

retail price. seer

fish recorded

seven- fold increa

during the period from

.1973-74 to 1993-94. T

prices of other varicties also increased considerab

through

these years. The increase

is

higher

than

other food articles.

Biology Education/Octoher December 9

Average price Rs.lkg

1973-74 1984-85 1989-90 1993-9

I. Seer fish

4.00 19.00 28.90 58.0

2. Pomfrets 2.00 17.50

15.20 35.0

3. Baracudas 2.00

11.25 15.20 30.0

4. Tuna 2.00 10.00 13.45

30.0

5. Sharks 1.50 11.25 13.85 26.0

6. Catfish

1.00

7.75

13.00 20.0

7. Mackerel

2.00 6.25 9.00

23.0

8. Sardines 1.00

4.00 6.90 13.0

9. Ribbon fish

2.00 5.00 6.15

10.0

10. White baits 2.00

5.00 5.85 15.0

II. Rays

UX)

6.00 6.40

12.0



Table 4 : Retail price behaviour of selected varieties of

marine fish in Tamil Nadu 1973-74) to .1993-94)

Socioeconomicevaluationand technologytrans-

fer division, SEE1TD),CMFRI.

ase Studies on Marine Fish Marketing

he Socio Economic Evaluation and Technology

ansfer Division, S.E.E.T.T.D.) of Central Marine

isheries Institute, has conducted a few fish

arketing studies at selected centres. One study

s conducted in Quilon region taking Neendakara

isheries Harbour as the primary market and

nother in Emakulam region taking Cochin

isheries Harbour as a the primary market. The

ther study pertains to Madras region of Tamil

adu taking Pudumanikuppam as primary market

nd a number of city markets.

Seasonal Variation

ery wide seasonal variations in the prices of dif-

erent varieties of fish have been observed hoth at

rimary and consumer markets. The quarterly

ariation in landing centre price is very wide for

harks, rays, thread-fin breams and cuttle fish and it

s reasonably high, in the case of wolf herring,

hite fish and lesser sardines. Table 5). Among

hese varieties. a portion of the landing of sharks,

ology Education/October-December. /994

rays, threadfin breams and while fish go for curing

and drying but cuttle fish is having export demand.

But the wide tluctuation in landing centre price

is not retlected in the retail prices of some varieties

like shark in the local markets. Because of the near

monopolistic situation at the wholesale level which

has been much facilitated by the available process-

ing facilities for the respective varieties, the supply

is controlled at the wholesale as well as retail levels

and prices are maintained at a higher level even

during the period of peak landings. However. the

wide seasonal fluctuation of the price of lesser sar-

dines was in accordance with its volume of land-

ings. On the whole it was found that the seasonal

fluctuation in fish prices at the producer level was

wider as compared to consumer level:

ii) Share of Fishermen and Middlemen in Con-

sumer Rupee:

Studies conducted in the Neendakara region 1981)

indicated that the fisherman s share in the con-

sumer rupee varied from 31 to 68 per cent for dif-

ferent varieties. The retailers margin ranged from

11 to 25 per cent and the wholesalers margin

ranged from 15 to 37 per cent of the consumer

price. Marketing expenses which constitute mainly

transportation and handling charges ranged from

six to seven per cent. The study conducted at Er-

nakulam region indicated that the fishermen s share

in consumers rupee varied from 40 to 65 per cent.

In the Madras region the fishermen s share in

consumers rupee ranged from 32 to 72 paise for

different varieties 1984-85). The share of market-

ing expenditure in consumers rupee ranged from

four to 14 paise. The wholesalers margin was min-

imum four paise) for pornfrets and maximum 27

paise) for sharks. The retailers got the highest mar-

gin for silverbellies 45 paise), minimum for ribbon

fish I R paise). The study further indicated that a

good number of varieties of fish which have been

till recently considered trash fish have picked up

consumer preference and fctched comparatively

higher price. Fishermen s share and marketing mar-

gins in consumer rupce for different varieties of

fish during I989-1 . in Kanyakumari- Tuticorin

regions of Tamil Nadu is givcn in Table 6.

233

Average price RsJkg

1973-74 1984-85 1989-90

1993-94

L Seer fish 9.00 27.00 3550 66.00

2. Pomfrets

./

2.50 22.80 29.50

40.00

3. Baracudas ./

2.50 15.35 21.00

35.00

. Tuna

;I-

3.00

16.50

1850 39.00

5. Sharks -./

2.50 17.00 17.00

31.00

. Cattish I-

2.50 11.00

16.50 30.00

. Mackerel 3.00

9.85 1250

25.00

Sardines \

2.00

6.70

10.00

16.00

. White baits

,

3.00 8.00 9.00 18.00

10. Ribbon fish 1- 2.50 8.50

10.00 19.00

II. Rays t

2.00 10.00

10.75 15.00



Table 5 : Seasonal price variation in primary and retaillish markets for different varieties 1989-90

Export Fish Marketing

The fishery sector has emerged as a potential

foreign exchange earner over the years. This could

be observed from the facts that. marine products

exports has contributed 3.3 per cent of our total

export and the export earnings has increased from

Rs. 384.29 crores during 1983-84 to Rs. 2433

crores during 1993-94. About 10 per cent of lhe

marine fish production has been exported during

1992-93.

234

The demand for sea food of the developed

countries has been increasing over the years mainly

due to the realisation of its high nutritive value and

its utility in reducing the incidence of cardiac ar-

rests and controlling some other common diseases.

The present average annual per capital consump-

tion of fish for the world as a whole is estimated a

12.4 kg live weight equivalent .

The world demand ror fish and fish products

by 2000 AD has been estimated at 110 million ton-

Bi gy Education/October-December, 1994

Minimum Maximum

Variety

Landing Retail

Season

Landing Retail

Season

centre centre

s/kg) Rs/kg)

Rslkg Rslkg

Seer Iish

21.60 28.30 Oct-Dec. 2X.00

45.00 Apr-June

Rainbow runner 19.00 26.00

..

24.00 38.00 Jan-March

Pomfrets 18.00 27.00

..

24.65 39.00 Jan-March

Pig-face breams

9.00 17.00

..

17.00

28.00

Red snapper

7. 15.00

..

12.00

24.00 Apr-June

Barracudas 9.00 16.00

..

17.00 27.00 Jan-March

Reef cod 7.00 15.00

..

12.00 23.00

Tuna

8.40

16.40 July-Sept.

13.30 24.85

Sharks 10.40 14.95

..

12.30

22.65 Apr-June

Cat fish 6.90 13.20 Oct-Dec. 10.55 20.55 Jan-June

Wolf herring

4.70 8.25

..

8.90 16.25

Mackerel

5.80 9.90

..

9.25

17.25 Apr-June

Scads

3.45

10.30 July-Sept..

6.10 14.85

Goat fish

3.20 6.75

..

5.30 15.15

Ribbon fish 4.00

8.50

..

5.00 14.00

Threadfin breams 2.55

4.75 Oct-Dec. 6.00 15.00 Jan-March

Rays

4.30

8.15 July-Sept.

4.70

11.75 Apr-June

Lizard fish 1.35 3.85 Oct-Dec. 4.00

10.10 Apr-June

Indian pellona 3. 6.15 July-Sept. 5.20 11.60

Gold stripped sardine

3.55 7.60

..

7.30 15.30

White baits

2.70 6.45

..

5.75 14.65

Silver bellies 2.00 5.40

..

3.05 6.80 Jan-March

Source: Socio economic evaluation and technology transfer division. CMFRI.



nes against a global supply of about 100 million

tonnes-the increase in demand is due to the grow-

ing population and health consciousness of the

people.

Table6: Fishermen'sshareandmarketingmarginin

consumer'srupeefordifferentvarieties(1989-90)

Variety

Percentage share to

Fishermen Handling & Whole- Retaillers

transport salers

Seer fish

Rainbow runner

Pomfrets

Pig-face breams

Red snapper

Barracudas

Reef cod

Tuna

Sharks

Cat fish

Wolf herring

Mackerel

Scads

Goat fish

Ribbon fish

Threadfin breams

Rays

Lizard fish

Indian pellona

Gold stripped

sardine

White baits

Silver beIlies

63

60

62

50

55

53

55

55

58

49

53

54

43

37

41

46

39

42

44

43

41

41

Source: SEETT Division, CMFRI

3

3

3

4

5

4

5

4

4

4

6

6

7

5

5

6

4

10

6

5

5

8

10

10

9

12

14

10

15

13

II

18

II

6

II

17

14

14

]]

18

14

14

14

13

International Trade on Sea Food

The global fish production has been estimated at

96.9 million tonnes during 1991. China accounted

for 13.6 per cent of the world's production fol-

lowed by Japan (9.6 per cent) and former un-

divided USSR (9.5 per cent). The share of the


24

27

26

34

26

33

25

28

27

29

30

34

39

41

40

34

46

30

36

38

developing countries in the world production was

stable around 52-54 per cent over the past five

years. The world marine products trade has gone

up from US 17, III million during 1983 to US

48,000 million in 1992. But India's share in global

fish trade has declined from 2.06 per cent to 1.2 per

cent during this period.

The foreign exchange earnings of Indian sea

food export during 1993-94 was at Rs. 2433.33

crores through the sale of 2.24 lakh tonnes of

marine products. registering a growth of 37.7 per

cent in value and 13.49 per cent in quantity respec-

tively. The unit value realised per kg has increased

from Rs. 84.73 per kg in 1992-93 to Rs. 103.75 per

kg in 1993-94, registering a growth of 22.4 per

cent. The growth of Indian marine products export

from 1983-84 to 1993-94 is given in Table 7. .

Table7 : Growthof Indianmarineproductsexport

1983-84 to 1993-94

40

38

SI. Year Qty. in Average Growth rate Value in

No. tonnes unit Rs. crores

value .

relation QuantltyValue

(Rs/kg) ( ) ( )

I. 1983-84 92187 40.24 + 18.87 +3.23 384.29

2. 1984-85 86187 44.59 - 7.02 +3.02 384.29

3. 1985-86 83651 47.58 - 2.94 +3.57 398.00

4. 1986-87 85843 53.66 + 2.62 ]5.75 460.67

5. ]987-88 97179 54.66 13.2] 15.31 531.20

6. 1988-89 99777 59.92 2.67 ]2.55 597.85

7. 1989-90 110843 57.29 11.09 6.21 634.99

8. 1990-91 139419 64.08 25.78 40.69 893.37

9. 1991-92171820 80.08 23.24 54.0] 1373.85

10. 1992-93208602 84.73 21.41 8 461767.43

II. 1993-94236678 103.75 +13.49 37.682433.33

Source: Marineproductsexportreview,MPEDA]992-93

Indian marine products arc exported to over 59

countries. Japan was the leading importer of Indian

sea food products accounting for 14.77 per cent of

our trade in terms of volume and 45.37 per cent in

value during 1992-93. This is followed by USA

235



with about 9.65 per cent on total volume and 10.78

per cent of the gross earnings in 1992-93. The

details of other fish importing countries from India

are given in Table 8.

Table8 : Countrywisemarineproductexportfrom

Indiaduring1992-93

Q: quantity in tonnes

V:valuein Rs.crores

SI. Country

No.

1992-1993

Quantity Percentage Value Percentage

exported to total to total

19.77 801.90 45.37

32.39 511.52 28.94

Major Items of Export:

The Indian sea food export comprises frozen

shrimps, fresh/frozen squid, cuttle fish, lobsters,

dried products, live items and miscellaneous items.

Frozen shrimp accounts for 3566 per cent of the

volume and 66.78 per cent of the value exported

during 1992- 93. The quantity of shrimp exported

during 1992-93 was 74.393 tonnes earning a

foreign exchange of Rs. 118.26 crores. Out of this.

Japan imported 34,600 tonnes. followed by

Western Europe- 20.749 tonnes and USA-14,045

tonnes, India s share in the world s tuna market is

only five percent (20 lakh tonnes). The particulars

of item wise exports of Indian marine products are

presented in Table 9.

The export of marine products from India.

during 1992-93 was done through 13 ports. They

are Cochin, Mangalore. Goa. Bombay. JNP (Bom-

bay), Porhander, Kandla. Tuticorin. Madras, Vi zag

Calcutta, Haldia Okoha. Bombay accounted for

26.11 per cent of the volume of exports followed

by Cochin 23.53 per cent. Marine products like live

lobsters. crab. chilled fish. ornamental fish were air

lifted thorough international airports.

Infra Structural Facilities

The infra structural facilities include freezing

plants. canning plants. ice factories, fish meal

Table

8 : Country

wise

marine product export from India during

1992-93

Source: Marine products export review. MPEDA, 1992-93

Source: Marine products export review, MPEDA, 1992-93

236


I.

Japan

41240

2. Western 67582

Europe

3. USA 20141

4.

Singapore

15454

5.

Hongkong

40593

6. UAE 5330

7. SriLanka 3482

8. Others 14780

Grand Total 208602

9.65 190.48 10.78

7.41 72.20 4.09

19.46 80.90

4.58

2.56 28.95 1.64

1.67 5.28 0.30

7.09 76.19 4.30

100.00 1767.43 100.00

Q: quantity in million

V: value in Rs. crores

: dollar in millions

SI. Item

1992-93

No.

Quantity Percentage to total

Value

Percentage to total

Value in US Rs.

I.

Frozen shrimp

74393 35.66 1180.26 66.78 410.72

2. FreshfFrozen fish 75370

36.13 232.4 ] ]3.15 80.88

3.

Frozen squid

30364

14.56 ]51.90 8.59 52.86

4.

Cuttle fish 18981

9.10 ] ]8.88 6.73 41.37

5. Frozen lobsters 1613 0.77 43.34 2.45 15.09

6. Dried items 4233

2.03 ] .O2

1.02

6.27

7. Live items 573

0.23

3.49 0.20

1.22

8. Others 3075

1.47 19.13 1.08 6.66

Total 208602 100.00 1767.43 100.00 615.06



plants, peeling sheds, cold storages, conveyances

and processing plants. The sea food processing

plants are mostly located around important fish

landing centres like Porbander, Veraval, Bombay,

Ratnagiri, Panjim, Karwar, Mangalore, Calicut,

Cochin, Quilon, Tuticorin, Mandapam, Cuddalore,

Madras, Viskhapatnam, Puri and Calcutta. The

development of such infra structural facilities is

vital for improving the quality of the marine

products and is present level in our country is given

in Table 10.

Table 10 : Infrastructureor thesea foodprocessing

industry 1992

Capacity

tonnes/day

2778.60

81.50

1894.00

375.50

2150.00

49775.00

209.30

Source: Marine products export review, MPEDA, 1992-93

The development of infrastructural facilities

sill go a long way to increase our contribution of

value added products which at present constitutes

only 12 per cent of the total marine food export.

Upto 1986, India was mostly supplying raw

materials to the importing countries by exporting

frozen shrimps. With the help of innovative tech-

nologies and policy support, export of value added

products was initiated. As tirst step, IQF individu-


ally Quick Frozen) units were established with an

installed capacity of 210 tonnes per day producing

15 per cent of shrimps in IQF. During 1992-93.

8587 tonnes of IQF shrimps were exported earning

Rs. 127.8 crores with the unit value of Rs. 148.80

per kg. Italy was the leading importer of IQF

shrimp from India, foIlowed by Japan and USA.

The share of IQF shrimp in the total export of

shrimp from India during 1992-93 was 11.54 per

cent in volume and 10.83 per cent in value. Further

improvements in the export of value added

products will help India not only to become a

global competitor but also create substantial

domestic employment.

Conclusion and Policy Implications

Fish marketing in India is gradually tranSforming

from primitive to modern stage. The involvement

of a number of middlemen in the marketing chain

adversely affects the interests of both fishermen

and consumers. The basic amenities are not present

in many of the markets to carry out the marketing

activities properly. No proper grading or weighing

is done for fresh fish and there is no proper sheds

for auctioning or facilities for preservation at the

marketing centres. Inefficient coIlection and dis-

tribution of fish results in concomitance of surplus

and deficit in the internal marketing system. Lack

of marketing infrastructure is another factor

responsible for low returns to fishermen. It is not

possible to provide the ice plants or cooling plants

for each and every fishing viIlage. Hence the

government can provide these facilities for a

cluster of closely located tishing villages, through

fishermen co-operatives. After successful

demonstration, these units can be handed over to

local fishermen on equity participation.

The government s intervention in the fish

marketing system through the state fisheries

development corporations has not been successful

due to various administrative and management lap-

ses. The involvement of local fishermen in Fish

Marketing Societies, may deliver the goods. Lack

of proper institutional price support and exploita-

tion by middlemen have discouraged the fishermen

from increasing the fish production. Hence, the

237

tegory

Registered

I.

Exporters

865

2. Vessels

12499

3.

Freezing plants

248

4.

Canning plants

23

5.

Ice plants

129

6.

Fish meal plants

21

7.

Pre processing

921

centres

8. Conveyances 483

9.

Cold storage

321

10.

Other storage

371

II.

Agar agar plants

2

12.

IQF plants

52



government can announce support prices for all

commercially important varieties. This can be

achieved with the establishment of a public agency

which can buy such surpluses. Such agencies

should have well developed processing storage and

distribution facilities.

Now our marine products exports perfor

mance mostly depends on shrimp. Adequate

en

tion should be given for product diversification and

238

increase the quantum of value added products in

our sea food export. The possibility of exploiting

the tuna resources and its export potential should

be explored.

Considering the importance of sea food as a

potential foreign exchange earner as well as a sup

plementary protein diet. more emphasis needs to be

given for the development of fishery sector in

India.

BiologyEducation/October December /994



IFf ~~. t~~._ ~~~- .<~ --~~~~~~..: ~ c -~

~

Plate : Awaitingthe arrival of boats

l te

: Sorting of the catch and ready for auctioning


39



late 3 : Auctioning

late

: Sorting out fish wastes for fish meal plants

4




l te

5 : Packing

l te

6 : Distribution for long distance market


4

Date post:	03-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	arun-ab
View:	220 times
Download:	0 times

Price Policy and Fish Marketing System

Documents